IANS/Kathmandu

Indian foreign secretary S Jaishankar yesterday wrapped up his two-day official visit to Nepal conveying a common political message from New Delhi to the leaders of the Himalayan nation that they must draft their new constitution on the basis of broader consensus and compromise.
Jaishankar met President Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, Constituent Assembly chairman Subash Chandra Nembang, chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) K P Oli, United Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and leaders of an alliance of Madesh-based parties.
The Indian foreign secretary conveyed two key messages from New Delhi to Nepal’s political leadership - that they must seek broader political consensus on the constitution-drafting process and that federalism was an internal matter of Nepal and India has no say in it.
“I conveyed to them that India is committed to working with the people of Nepal for a democratic, stable, peaceful and prosperous Nepal,” the Indian foreign secretary said in his departure statement, adding that India’s relations with Nepal are, and will continue to be, a matter of the highest priority.
In separate meetings with top political leaders on Thursday and yesterday, Jaishankar highlighted the importance of consensus in the statute writing process and urged the leaders to finalise the new constitution as soon as possible.
According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister Office, Koirala, during his meeting with Jaishankar, appreciated Indian’s ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’ in its foreign policy architecture and hailed the recent initiatives by the two nations in strengthening bilateral ties.
Koirala also assured the Indian diplomat that Nepal would vote for India’s bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.
According to the statement, Jaishankar stressed for better connectivity among the Saarc member states including energy co-operation and conveyed best wishes to Koirala in advance for promulgation of the new constitution.
Promulgation of the new constitution is the key agenda for Nepal but the political parties have already missed the January 22 deadline to do so. Due to irreconcilable differences among the top parties, an understanding could not be reached on finalising the constitution despite two successive constituent assemblies
working on the issue.
According to Maoist leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Jaishankar told the party leaders that India wished for early promulgation of the
constitution in Nepal.
“There are precedents elsewhere in the world that the constitution is written on the basis of broader consensus and compromise. We also encourage the same in Nepal that will direct the political competition in the right direction after promulgation of the new constitution.
“Constitution writing is like setting the rules of the game,” Jaishankar told the political leaders. “Once that is done, the real game and political
competition begin.”





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